Levittown is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
(CDP) in the
Town of Hempstead
The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...
in
Nassau County, on
Long Island, in
New York. It is located halfway between the villages of
Hempstead and
Farmingdale. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 51,881, making it the most populous CDP in Nassau County and the second most populous CDP on Long Island, behind only
Brentwood.
Levittown gets its name from its builder, the firm of
Levitt & Sons, Inc. founded by Abraham Levitt on August 2, 1929, which built the district as a
planned community
A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
for returning
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
veterans between 1947 and 1951. Sons
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
and Alfred served as the company's president and chief architect and planner, respectively. Levittown was the first truly mass-produced
suburb and is widely regarded as the archetype for postwar suburbs throughout the country.
William Levitt
William Jaird Levitt (February 11, 1907 – January 28, 1994) was an American real-estate developer and housing pioneer. As president of Levitt & Sons, he is widely credited as the father of modern American suburbia. He was named one of ''Time ...
, who assumed control of Levitt & Sons in 1954, is considered the father of modern
suburbia in the United States.
There have been multiple proposals in the past to incorporate Levittown either as a village or as the third city in Nassau County.
History
Overview
The building firm, Levitt & Sons, headed by Abraham Levitt and his two sons, William and Alfred, built four planned communities called "Levittown", in
New York,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, and
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
; the Levittown in New York was the first. Additionally, Levitt & Sons' designs are featured prominently in the older portion of
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tot ...
;
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Vernon Hills is a suburb north of Chicago, Illinois in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 26,850 at the 2020 census. Vernon Hills serves as a retail hub for its surrounding area ( Libertyville, Lake Forest, Long Grove, Lin ...
;
Willingboro Township, New Jersey; the Belair section of
Bowie, Maryland
Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
; and the Greenbriar section of
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...
.
The Levitt firm began before World War II, as a builder of custom homes in upper middle-class communities on Long Island. During the war, however, the home building industry languished under a general embargo on private use of scarce raw materials. William "Bill" Levitt served in the Navy in the
Seabees – the service's construction battalions – and developed expertise in the mass-produced building of military housing using uniform and interchangeable parts. He was insistent that a postwar building boom would require similar mass-produced housing, and was able to purchase options on large swaths of onion and potato fields in undeveloped sections of Long Island.
Returning to the firm after war's end, Bill Levitt persuaded his father and brother to embrace the utilitarian system of construction he had learned in the Navy. With his brother, Alfred, who was an architect, he designed a small one-floor house with an unfinished "expansion attic" that could be rapidly constructed and as rapidly rented to returning GIs and their young families. Levitt & Sons built the community with an eye towards speed, efficiency, and cost-effective construction; these methods led to a production rate of 30 houses a day by July 1948.
They used pre-cut lumber and nails shipped from their own factories in
Blue Lake, California
Blue Lake (formerly, Scottsville) is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Blue Lake is located on the Mad River in a deep valley, northeast of Eureka, at an elevation of 131 feet (40 m). Its population is 1,208 as of the 2020 ...
, and built on concrete slabs, as they had done in a previous planned community in
Norfolk, Virginia. This necessitated negotiating a change in the building code which, prior to the building of this community, did not permit concrete slabs. Given the urgent need for housing in the region, the town agreed. Levitt & Sons also controversially utilized non-
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
contractors in the project, a move which provoked picket lines. On the other hand, they paid their workers very well and offered all kinds of incentives that allowed them to earn extra money, so that they often could earn twice as much a week as elsewhere. The company also cut out middlemen and purchased many items, including lumber and televisions, directly from manufacturers. The building of every house was reduced to 26 steps, with sub-contractors responsible for each step. His mass production of thousands of houses at virtually the same time allowed Levitt to sell them, with kitchens fully stocked with modern appliances, and a television in the living room, for as little as $8,000 each (equal to $ today), which, with the
G.I. Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
and federal housing subsidies, reduced the up-front cost of a house to many buyers to around $400 (equal to $ today).
The planned 2,000 home rental community was quickly successful, with the ''
New York Herald Tribune'' reporting that half of the properties had been rented within two days of the community being announced on May 7, 1947. As demand continued, exceeding availability, the Levitts expanded their project with 4,000 more homes, as well as community services, including schools and postal delivery. With the full implementation of federal government supports for housing, administered under the
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...
(FHA), the Levitt firm switched from rental to sale of their houses, offering ownership on a 30-year mortgage with no down payment and monthly costs the same as rental. The resulting surge in demand pressed the firm to further expand its development, which changed its name from Island Trees to Levittown shortly thereafter.
Levittown was designed to provide a large amount of housing at a time when there was a high demand for affordable family homes. This suburban development would become a symbol of the "
American Dream" as it allowed thousands of families to become home owners.
Unsuccessful incorporation proposals
In 1952,
Carl T. Sigman, who was running as the
Democratic candidate for County Executive, stated that he felt it would be wise for Levittown to incorporate itself as a city.
If successful, the never-realized Incorporated City of Levittown would have been the third city to incorporate within Nassau County, joining
Glen Cove and
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
Previously, locals had proposed incorporating their hamlet as a village.
Discriminatory practices
As well as a symbol of the American Dream, Levittown would also become a symbol of
racial segregation in the United States
In the United States, racial segregation is the systematic separation of facilities and services such as housing, healthcare, education, employment, and transportation on racial grounds. The term is mainly used in reference to the legally or ...
, due to Clause 25 of the standard lease agreement signed by the first residents of Levittown, who had an option to buy their homes. This "
restrictive covenant" stated in capital letters and bold type that the house could not "be used or occupied by any person other than members of the
Caucasian race."
[Lambert, Bruce (December 28, 1997]
"At 50, Levittown Contends With Its Legacy of Bias"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
Such discriminatory housing standards were consistent with government policies of the time. The
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...
allowed developers to justify segregation within public housing. The FHA offered mortgages only to non-mixed developments which discouraged developers from creating
racially integrated housing. Before the sale of Levittown homes began, the sales agents were aware that no applications from
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
families would be accepted. As a result, American veterans who wished to purchase a home in Levittown were unable to do so if they were black.
[Kushner 2009, p.44.]
William Levitt attempted to justify their decision to only sell homes to white families by saying that it was in the best interest for business.
He claimed their actions were not discriminatory but intended to maintain the value of their properties. The company explained that it was not possible to reduce racial segregation while they were attempting to reduce the housing shortage. Levitt said "As a Jew, I have no room in my heart for racial prejudice. But the plain fact is that most whites prefer not to live in mixed communities. This attitude may be wrong morally, and someday it may change. I hope it will." The Levitts explained that they would open up applications to blacks after they had sold as many homes to white people as possible.
They believed that potential white buyers would not want to buy a house in Levittown if they were aware they would have black neighbors.
Though the Levitts were Jewish, they did not wish to sell homes to Jewish families either; despite this, by 1960, although it was still a completely "white" suburb, the population of Levittown was roughly a third Jewish, with the remainder about a third Roman Catholic, and a third Protestant.
[Manton, Paul (May 9, 2013]
"The Ecclesiastical History of the Levittown People "
'' Levittown Patch''
An opposition group was formed, the Committee to End Discrimination in Levittown, to protest the restricted sale of Levittown homes, and to push for an integrated community. In 1948 the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, in
Shelley v. Kraemer, declared that property deeds stipulating racial segregation were "unenforceable as law and contrary to public policy".
Only well after the 1954 racial integration decisions, including ''
Brown v. Board of Education
''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'', was Levittown racially integrated, and even as late as the 1990 census only a tiny fraction of the community was non-white, a condition that still exists.
Spread of the planned community
While the Levitts are generally credited with designing a postwar "planned community," with common public amenities such as swimming pools and community centers, they were quick to release these high-maintenance, low-profit elements to the surrounding towns; the development sprawled across municipal boundaries, causing legal and administrative difficulties and requiring major initiatives within those existing municipalities to provide for and fund schools, sewage and water systems, and other infrastructure elements.
In 1949, Levitt and Sons changed focus, unveiling a new plan which it termed a "
ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...
" house. Larger, , and more modern, these homes were only offered for sale, with a planned price of $7,990 (equal to $ today). The ranch homes were similar to the rental properties in that they were built on concrete slabs, included an expandable attic but no garage, and were heated with hot-water
radiant heating
Radiant heating and cooling is a category of HVAC technologies that exchange heat by both convection and radiation with the environments they are designed to heat or cool. There are many subcategories of radiant heating and cooling, including: ...
pipes. Five models were offered that were effectively identical with differences in details such as exterior color and window placement. Again, demand was high, requiring that the purchasing process be streamlined as the assembly process had been, reaching the point that a buyer could walk through the process of selecting a house through contracting for its purchase in three minutes. This ranch model was altered in 1950 to include a carport and a built-in television. In 1951, a partially finished attic was added to the design.
Levittown proved successful. By 1951, it and surrounding regions included 17,447 homes constructed by Levitt & Sons.
On Friday, November 9, 2007, Levitt & Sons of
Fort Lauderdale
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
became the nation's largest builder to file for
bankruptcy as the housing market boom of the early 21st century continued to crumble.
Timeline
*February 12, 1664: Jerusalem Purchase between John Seaman and Takapausha of the Massapequan Indians whereupon the English were granted rights to settle in on lands that now comprise southern and easternmost Levittown (south of Hempstead Tpke.), northern and eastern Wantagh, and most of Seaford. As Seaman established his farm, Cherrywood, two years later, near the current location of Salk Middle School and MacArthur High School, he was the first European to live in what's now Levittown. This is the start of the use of the word "Jerusalem" to describe the aforementioned areas.
* March 22, 1747: Land deed between the Seaman and Weeks families first to mention the Island of Trees endowing the general area of northern Levittown with the name "Island Trees".
* March 1, 1837: Rail service arrives at
Hicksville under the supervision of Valentine Hicks. The ensuing influx of German immigrant farmers and artisans opens the future Levittown area up to potato farming and other forms of development.
* February 11, 1907: William Levitt born to Abraham Levitt and Pauline Biederman Levitt in Brooklyn.
* May 21, 1947: Local governing board approves of the construction of a community that would become Levittown.
* October 1, 1947: Levittown's official beginning as a suburban entity with the first three hundred families – beginning with the Bladykas family – moving into their brand-new Levitt & Sons homes.
* January 1, 1948: The Jerusalem/Island Trees area officially named "Levittown".
Place in American culture
![Bageltown of Levittown, New York](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Bageltown_of_Levittown%2C_New_York.jpg)
As the first and one of the largest
mass-produced suburbs, Levittown quickly became a symbol of postwar suburbia. Although Levittown provided affordable houses in what many residents felt to be a congenial community, critics decried its homogeneity, blandness, and racial exclusivity (the initial lease prohibited rental to non-whites). Today, "Levittown" is used as a term to describe overly sanitized suburbs consisting largely of identical housing. Similarly, places have earned names like "Levittown-of-X" or "Levittown-on-the-X" as seen in Long Island's
Bayville "Levittown on the Sound" and Fire Island's
Dunewood "Levittown on the Bay." Oddly enough, although Levittown is remembered largely for its homogeneity, the majority of houses in Levittown have by now been so thoroughly expanded and modified by their owners that their original architectural form can be somewhat difficult to see; however, with diligent observation, several original examples can still be seen today.
Levittown has become so ingrained in American culture that the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
in Washington has expressed interest in displaying an entire Levittown house. Bill Yeingst, a historian with Smithsonian's
National Museum of American History Domestic Life Division, said "An original ranch model would be ideal. We would like someone to donate their Levittown house, or we would like to find a donor to provide the funds so that we could secure a Levittown house." He noted that "The stories played out in suburban Levittown are the stories of America. They are stories important to everyone." Although "None of this is set in concrete," according to Yeingst, "the Levittown house would be dismantled at the site, transported to Washington and reconstructed. Then it would be exhibited along with other innovations in American home life."
Geography
![Levittown-ny-map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Levittown-ny-map.gif)
According to the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the CDP has a total area of 6.9 square miles (17.8 km
2), all land.
It does not conform to the U.S. Postal Service boundaries nor to the extent of the development built by Levitt & Sons; it also includes areas built by other developers.
Levittown, New York, is an
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in Nassau County, New York. It can be defined in three overlapping but non-conforming ways.
The most common use is Levittown as defined by the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
's
Zip Code 11756. Another definition is the extent of the Levitt & Sons development built from 1947 to 1951. A third is the Census Designated Place (CDP) called Levittown as defined by the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
.
The United States Postal Service ZIP code called Levittown, New York, is 11756 and what is most commonly used to mean Levittown, New York. It does not include all the houses built in this area by Levitt & Sons and it does include houses built by other developers. The actual Levitt built development sprawls over three other postal zones,
Wantagh NY (11793) and
Westbury, NY
The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census.
History
The firs ...
(11590) in the
Town of Hempstead
The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on t ...
, and
Hicksville, NY (11801) in the
Town of Oyster Bay.
Climate
Levittown has a hot-summer
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(''Dfa'') and average monthly temperatures in the central CDP in the vicinity of Hempstead Turnpike (
New York Route 24) and Jerusalem Avenue range from in January to in July. The
hardiness zone is borderline between 7a and 7b, meaning that the average annual absolute minimum temperature is approximately .
Demographics
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 51,881 people, 17,207 households, and 14,031 families residing in the community. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 7,717.5 per square mile (2,978.1/km
2). There were 17,447 dwelling units at an average density of 2,531.9/sq mi (977.0/km
2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 90%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 5.7%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.8%
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
, 0.1%
Native American, and 0.02%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
.
Hispanics
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latinos
Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
of any race made up 12% of the population.
In the community, the population was spread out, with 25.7% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males.
![Levittown Public Library, New York](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Levittown_Public_Library%2C_New_York.jpg)
The median income for a household in the community was $124,995, and the median income for a family was $132,887 (these figures had risen from $95,979 and $99,845 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $94,803 versus $79,962 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the CDP was $45,917. 1.0% of the population and 0.1% of families were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
. Out of the total population, 0.2% of those under the age of 18 and 0.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Education
![Island Trees High School, New York](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Island_Trees_High_School%2C_New_York.jpg)
Levittown is served primarily by two public school districts, the
Island Trees Union Free School District
Island Trees Union Free School District is a school district in central Nassau County on Long Island, approximately 31 miles east of New York City. The district includes parts of the following hamlets; Levittown, Bethpage, Plainedge, and Se ...
with approximately 2,574 students and the
Levittown Union Free School District
Levittown Union Free School District (LUFSD) is a school district in central Nassau County on Long Island, approximately ten miles east of New York City. The district approximately includes parts of the following hamlets; Levittown, North Wa ...
with approximately 7,380 students.
A small portion of the northwest corner of the hamlet is served by the
East Meadow Union Free School District
East Meadow Union Free School District (EMUFSD) is a school district headquartered in the Leon J. Campo Salisbury Center in Salisbury, New York.
The district was first established as the Common School District #3 in 1812, with a change in organiz ...
.
The Island Trees Union Free School District serves northeastern Levittown, and portions of
Bethpage,
Seaford and
Plainedge
Plainedge is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 8,817 at the 2010 census.
The area was once known as Turkeyville.
Geography
Ac ...
. The district hosts
Island Trees High School
Island Trees High School is a coeducational public high school serving students in ninth grade through twelfth grade, in Levittown, New York, United States, 31.0 miles east of Manhattan. It is a part of the Island Trees Union Free School District. ...
, Island Trees Memorial Middle School, Michael F. Stokes Elementary School, and J. Fred Sparke Elementary School.
In 1982, Island Trees gained national attention from the United States Supreme Court case ''
Board of Education v. Pico''. The case determined that students' first amendment rights were violated when the school board removed several books it found objectionable from the high school's library.
The Levittown Union Free School District, which also serves
North Wantagh and the northern portion of Seaford, has two high schools:
Division Avenue and
General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...
, one career and technical institute: Gerald R. Claps Career & Technical Center, two middle schools: Wisdom Lane and Jonas Salk, and six elementary schools: Abbey Lane, East Broadway, Gardiners Avenue, Lee Road, Northside, and Summit Lane.
The Levittown School District dates back to the 19th century, originally called the Jerusalem School District of the Town of Hempstead.
Private schools include the Maria Montessori School, The Progressive School of Long Island,
and the South Shore Christian Elementary and Secondary School located in the former Geneva M Gallow Elementary School building.
Vocational schools available are the Brittany Beauty School, Hunter Business School,
and the
New York Chiropractic College
Northeast College of Health Sciences is a private alternative health college in Seneca Falls, New York. It has graduate programs in areas such as chiropractic, health sciences and education. It was previously named Columbia Institute of Chiroprac ...
.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Although there is no passenger rail service in Levittown proper, the
Long Island Rail Road provides service from the
Hicksville and
Bethpage stations on its
Main Line and from the
Wantagh
Wantagh ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 18,871 at the time of the 2010 census.
Wantagh is known as "The Gateway to Jones ...
and
Bellmore stations on the
Babylon Branch
The Babylon Branch is a rail service operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The term refers to the trains serving Montauk Branch stations from Valley Stream east to Babylon; in other words, the Babylon Branch is a ...
.
Levittown, along with the remainder of Nassau County, is served by the
Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus system.
Republic Airport
Republic Airport is a regional airport in East Farmingdale, New York,
located one mile east of Farmingdale village limits.
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation ''reliever airpo ...
, in neighboring
East Farmingdale
East Farmingdale is a hamlet and a census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York. The population of the CDP was 6,484 at the 2010 census. Located in the Town of Babylon, the residents are served by the Farmingda ...
, handles general aviation and charter services; the nearest commercial airports are
Long Island MacArthur Airport
Long Island MacArthur Airport (formerly known as Islip Airport) is a public airport in Ronkonkoma, New York, on Long Island. The Town of Islip owns and operates the airport, which serves about two million airline passengers a year, as well as g ...
in
Ronkonkoma and
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
and
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...
in New York City proper.
Emergency services
Ambulance
The Wantagh-Levittown Volunteer Ambulance Corps provides
paramedic
A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research.
Not all ambulance personnel are p ...
level of care.
Founded in 1956 by Homer K. Moore as a means for transport for the residents of Wantagh and Levittown, WLVAC provides emergency care on ambulances staffed with trained volunteers.
Fire
Levittown is protected by three
volunteer fire department
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond ...
s, the Levittown Fire Department with 231 members operating out of 3 stations, Station 3 of the
East Meadow Fire Department which covers portions of Levittown west of Division Avenue, and Station 2 of the
Wantagh Fire Department which serves portions of Levittown South of Abbey Lane School.
Police
Levittown is patrolled by the eighth precinct of the
Nassau County Police Department
The Nassau County Police Department is the law enforcement agency of Nassau County, New York.
History
In 1925, concerned about rising crime rates, the County Board of Supervisors voted to create the Nassau County Police Department, replacin ...
.
Notable people
People born in Levittown:
*
Brand New band members
Jesse Lacey
Jesse Thomas Lacey (born July 10, 1978) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the American alternative rock band Brand New. He is known for his enigmatic a ...
(1978), Vin Accardi, Brian Lane, and Garrett Tierney
*
Kevin Covais
Kevin Patrick Covais (; born May 30, 1989) is an American actor, singer and songwriter. He was a finalist on the fifth season of ''American Idol''. Covais appeared in the films ''College'' and '' Transformers: Age of Extinction,'' and television ...
(1989- ),
5th season ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' contestant, singer, actor
*
High School Football Heroes band members David Solomon, George Argyrou, Joe Masterson, Chris Askin, Jason Rutcofsky
*
Tom Kapinos
Tom Kapinos is an American television writer and screenwriter best known for his creation of the Showtime series '' Californication'' and the Fox series ''Lucifer''.
Early life
Kapinos attended Island Trees School District on Long Island, New ...
(1969- ) Screenwriter (''
Dawson's Creek
''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. T ...
''), executive producer and creator of ''
Californication Californication may refer to:
*Californication (word)
''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...
''
*
Brian Kilcommons (1953- ), famous American dog trainer
[Hamilton, Anita (April 30, 2006]
"He's a Dog's Best Friend"
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
''
*
Miss Understood (Alex Heimberg),
drag artist
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...
, actor and businessperson
*
Adam Wurtzel (1985- ), television personality
* Marc Kantor (1986- ), member of the band
Patent Pending
"Patent pending" (sometimes abbreviated by "pat. pend." or "pat. pending") or "patent applied for" are legal designations or expressions that can be used in relation to a product or process once a patent application for the product or process ...
Patricia Voulgaris(1991- ), Photographer
People at one point living in Levittown:
*
"Irish" Bobby Cassidy (1944- ), professional boxer
*
David Catapano (1973- ), celebrity Chef (''
Chopped Chopped can have the following meanings:
* Chopped and screwed
Chopped and screwed (also called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) is a music genre and technique of remixing music that involves slowing down the tempo and deejaying. It ...
''), lived in Levittown, New York for much of
his grade school years.
*
John A. Gambling John Alfred Gambling (February 5, 1930 – January 8, 2004) was an American radio personality. He was a member of the Gambling family, three generations of whom - John B. Gambling, John B., John A. and John R. Gambling, John R. - were hosts of WOR-A ...
(1930–2004), morning radio host on
WOR-AM
WOR (710 AM) is a 50,000-watt class A clear-channel AM radio station owned by iHeartMedia and licensed to New York, New York. The station airs a mix of local and syndicated talk radio shows, primarily from co-owned Premiere Networks, inclu ...
*
Ellie Greenwich
Eleanor Louise Greenwich (October 23, 1940 – August 26, 2009) was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Maybe I Know", "Then He Kissed Me", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", ...
(1940–2009), Hall of Fame songwriter
*
Bill Griffith
William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal comedy, surreal daily comic strip ''Zippy the Pinhead, Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are w ...
(1944- ), cartoonist (''
Zippy'')
* Peter Gruenwald (1912–1979), 1978
Lufthansa heist
The Lufthansa heist was a robbery at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 11, 1978. An estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $ million in ) was stolen, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, m ...
conspirator
*
Steve Israel
Steven J. Israel (born May 30, 1958) is an American political commentator, lobbyist, author, bookseller and former politician. He served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 2001 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...
(1958- ), politician, attended
MacArthur High School
*
Billy Joel (1949- ), musician, lived in a Levitt-built house in
Hicksville
*
Brian Kenny (1963- ), sportscaster on the
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...
, ''SportsCenter'', ''Friday Night Fights''
* Donnie Klang (1985- ), hip-hop singer (''Take You There (Donnie Klang song), Take You There'')
[ ]
* Cyril M. Kornbluth (1923–1958), Hugo Award for Best Short Story, Hugo- and Prometheus Award-winning science fiction writer (''The Syndic'')
* Damian Maffei (1977- ), actor (''Closed for the Season Movie, Closed for the Season'')
* Eddie Money (1949–2019), musician (''Two Tickets to Paradise''), attended
Island Trees High School
Island Trees High School is a coeducational public high school serving students in ninth grade through twelfth grade, in Levittown, New York, United States, 31.0 miles east of Manhattan. It is a part of the Island Trees Union Free School District. ...
though he lived in adjacent Plainedge, New York
* Sterling Morrison (1942–1995), guitarist with The Velvet Underground
* Bill O'Reilly (political commentator), Bill O'Reilly (1949- ), political commentator, raised in a Levitt-built part of the adjacent community of Salisbury, Nassau County, New York, Salisbury, also called South Westbury, New York, Westbury
* Maureen Tucker (1944- ), drummer for the Velvet Underground
In popular culture
* The 1954 Levittown documentary ''A City Is Born'' featured an interview with creator William J. Levitt, aerial views of the development, and a 45-second time-lapse sequence showing one of the houses being constructed.
* In 1962, singing comedian Allan Sherman poked fun in his album ''My Son, the Folk Singer'' with a parody of Harry Belafonte's ''Jamaica Farewell'': "I'm upside down. My head is turning around. Cause I've got to sell the house, in Levittown."
* In 1968, cartoonist Bill Hoest created ''The Lockhorns of Levittown'' – which was later shortened to ''The Lockhorns'' – a single-panel cartoon now syndicated to 500 newspapers in 23 countries.
* Mad (magazine), ''Mad'' magazine's June, 1970, parody of ''Easy Rider'', named "Sleazy Riders", has a character who muses about a commune, "Ain't America people livin' together, an' sharin' homes together, an' sharin' kids together, and sharin' backyards and wives together?", to which another replies, "That ain't America, Man! That's Levittown!"
* In 1978, Bill Griffith wrote ''Is There Life After Levittown?'', a comic story about growing up in Levittown featured in "Lemme Outa Here Comics"
* Local high school teacher Gene Horowitz wrote the 1980 novel, ''The Ladies of Levittown,'' which "featured a titillating account of America's most famous suburb, scandalizing many residents, who recognized their own lives depicted in the pages."
* In the 1982 musical, ''Little Shop of Horrors (musical), Little Shop of Horrors'', Audrey, the slum dwelling heroine, dreams of a home "Somewhere that's Green", in which she sings "not fancy like Levittown"
*
Billy Joel's 1982 album ''The Nylon Curtain'' shows an aerial view of Levittown on the inner sleeve. His 1989 song "Leningrad (song), Leningrad" mentions Levittown.
* The 1985 W. D. Wetherell published short story, ''The Man Who Loved Levittown'', was published in a collection of the same name. The ''Library Journal'' reviewed the story (an O'Henry prizewinner) as "a World War II vet buys a house in Levittown where he spends the best years of his life. His wife has died, his grown children have left, and one by one his neighbors are selling out and moving to Florida. Beneath the talky, narrative voice of this story you discover the internal logic of a man pushed beyond reason to a desperate act".
* Oliver Stone's 1989 movie ''Born on the Fourth of July (film), Born on the Fourth of July'', has two marines from the U.S. Marine "recruiting station in Levittown" do a recruitment presentation in protagonist Ron Kovic's high school class.
* Stewart Bird's 1994 documentary ''Building The American Dream: Levittown, NY'' explores Levitt's vision of rapidly constructing inexpensive tract homes, including rare archival footage and photos, an interview with Levitt and the reminiscences of numerous Levittown residents (including singer
Billy Joel).
* October 24, 1997, Wonderland (1997 film), ''Wonderland'', a satirical documentary film about Levittown, produced and directed by John O'Hagan, premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival. A review in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said of it: "The collective picture that emerges suggests a smug city slicker's condescending view of what could be almost any American small town."
* Michael Chabon's 2000 novel, ''The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay'', has Levittown paralleled by the fictional suburban community of "Bloomtown"
* The 2003 PBS series ''Race: The Power of an Illusion'' by California Newsreel, documents systemic racism in the development of early suburbs including Levittown and nearby Roosevelt.
* In Gilmore Girls Season 3 episode 14 "Swan Song" Lorelai, Alex, Sookie, and Jackson attend a fictional musical called ''Levittown'' in Manhattan, after which they mock the show's quality.
* Anna Shapiro published a 2006 teen oriented book ''Living on Air''. It's described by the publisher as about a girl "raised in Levittown, Long Island. By the time she attended high school she concluded her parents were colossal failures who hid in a community in which all exterior houses were identical to one another."
* In 2006, Marc Palmieri's play ''Levittown''
was performed at the Axis Theater in New York. A review in the ''Village Voice'' wrote: "We don't typically quibble with Leo Tolstoy, but are unhappy families really so different? Or are they rather like the endless rows of postwar homes that William Levitt built on Long Island?" In July 2009 a to-scale reproduction of an original Levitt house was constructed at the Theatre at Saint Clement's in New York City for a revival of the play.
The set was designed by Michele Spadaro. Steven McElroy of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' wrote an article in the Sunday Arts and Leisure section, "That Family Room? It Has a Certain Star Quality" on July 8, 2009.
* Levittown appeared on the February 2, 2010, episode entitled "Home Wrecked Home" of ''Life After People: The Series'' on the History Channel.
* The song "The L-Town Shakedown (Levittown is for Lovers)" was released by the Long Island band
Patent Pending
"Patent pending" (sometimes abbreviated by "pat. pend." or "pat. pending") or "patent applied for" are legal designations or expressions that can be used in relation to a product or process once a patent application for the product or process ...
on their 2006 album "Save Each Other, the Whales Are Doing Fine"
* In 2008, Levittown was mentioned in the Planet P Project album ''Levittown (Go Out Dancing, Vol. II)'', an album based upon life in post-war America and the early space age and atomic age. The title song paints Levittown as an "American Dream" of conformity.
* In 2014, Levittown appeared in the short documentary, ''Cash Mob for Avi,'' about a struggling stationery store owner and the community that banded together to help him.
*Jean-Robert Viallet mentions Levittown in his 2019 documentary ''L'homme a mangé la terre'' together with the development of passive solar heating houses by Mária Telkes, Maria Telkes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at the same time, calling this historical moment a missed opportunity of a promising technological development.
See also
* Levittown, Pennsylvania
* Levittown, Puerto Rico
* List of Levitt & Sons Housing Developments on Long Island, List of Levitt & Sons housing developments on Long Island
*
Willingboro Township, New Jersey – another Levittown which has since reverted to its original name
References
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
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{{Authority control
Hempstead, New York
Census-designated places in New York (state)
Hamlets in New York (state)
Planned communities in the United States
Populated places established in 1947
Census-designated places in Nassau County, New York
1947 establishments in New York (state)
Hamlets in Nassau County, New York
Sundown towns in New York (state)
Levittown